“No humanitarian convoy will be allowed to cross the territory of Kharkiv region,” Avakov wrote on Facebook.

Kiev authorities had guaranteed the convoy’s safe passage through Kiev-controlled territories, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday.

“We firmly believe in assurances given by the Kiev authorities who pledged to guarantee the convoy’s safe movement via territory controlled by the Ukraine army,” Lavrov told journalists.

He added the militias in Donetsk and Luhansk regions had also been notified about the convoy and expressed hope that they would ensure its safe passage.

The 280 trucks with some 2,000 tonnes of aid for the people in southeast Ukraine left Moscow region early on Tuesday. Supplies assembled in the capital and the surrounding region include food, baby mix, drinking water and medical products.